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Doug Bright
McLaren Minerals has capped off a monster drilling campaign at its wholly-owned McLaren titanium project in WAโs western Eucla Basin, with the final 137 aircore holes delivering impressive heavy mineral grades across broad intervals.
The results bring the curtain down on an 11,568-metre, 663-hole exploration blitz, setting the stage for a potentially significant upgrade to the companyโs already substantial mineral resource.
The latest holes have added another 2210 metres of sampled one-metre intervals to the companyโs dataset for the deposit. The company says the results returned a compelling length-weighted average grade of 4.27 per cent heavy minerals (HM), with no cut-off applied. The results cap off a significant exploration effort across the deposit, with McLaren now turning its attention to an updated mineral resource estimate.
Notably, the results show mineralisation extending to the southwest, beyond the projectโs current inferred resource, where it remains open.
โWe now move into the Mineral Resource Estimate update and I am advised the work is on full-speed mode.โ
McLaren Minerals managing director Simon Finnis
The best hit from the extension zone came in at 21m grading a solid 6.35 per cent HM from surface, including a peak one-metre section going 9.73 per cent HM from just two metres depth.
Two other holes in the extension zone returned 15m from surface at 5.4 per cent HM, including a maximum one-metre slice assaying 7.02 per cent HM from 12m and 17m from surface at 4.76 per cent HM, featuring a best one-metre chunk for the hole going 7.56 per cent HM from 6m depth.
Some of the highest grades in the final batch came from near-surface, with one hole hitting 9m at an impressive 9.32 per cent HM, including a one-metre slice running 12.37 per cent HM. In contrast, another hole delivered 6m from surface at 8.49 per cent HM, sweetened up by another single-metre section at an impressive 12.5 per cent HM from surface.
The highest individual one-metre assay from the entire batch yielded a stellar 14.15 per cent HM.
McLaren Minerals managing director Simon Finnis said: โItโs really good to see these final results, and they continue the consistently strong results we have reported to date from this program. In particular, it is gratifying to see the results from the south-western extension corridor outside of the Inferred Resource returning good grades. This drilling shows the Resource remains open to the southwest, giving us even more scope to increase the scale of the Resource and the project in due course.โ
Interestingly, the companyโs results from two dedicated variography grids – clusters of tightly spaced holes used to test the short-range continuity of the deposit – confirmed outstanding grade predictability. All 20 holes in the southern grid averaged more than 5.4 per cent HM over thick intervals ranging between 21m and 24m from surface, proving that the high-grade mineralisation forms a reliable, continuous blanket rather than just scattered pockets.
Standout intercepts from the southern grid include a 21-metre run from surface at 6.32 per cent HM, with a peak one-metre section assaying 11.14 per cent HM from 18m depth, and another 24-metre run from surface going 6.13 per cent HM, including a one-metre interval at 11.71 per cent HM from a depth of 17m.
The 2026 drilling program was designed to increase confidence in the projectโs existing 529-million-tonne JORC-compliant indicated and inferred mineral resource, averaging 4.5 per cent HM, and to support a bankable feasibility study (BFS). The existing resource already contains a whopping 23.7 million tonnes of in-situ HM.
The companyโs technical success on the ground could not be better timed. The final assays have landed just as Australia places greater strategic emphasis on titanium and zirconium supply chains. Both commodities are recognised on the Federal Governmentโs critical minerals list, while recent public support for other Australian mineral sands developments highlights a growing interest in securing domestic sources of titanium and zircon-bearing products.
With the final assays from its extensive 2026 program now in, McLaren has the complete dataset needed to update its geological model and deliver a revised mineral resource estimate. The company says the updated model will support mine planning, metallurgical programs and its ongoing BFS workstreams.
Now that the drills have fallen silent, all eyes will be on the geologists as they crunch the numbers for the new resource estimate. With rich mineralisation being extended and a BFS already in motion, the forthcoming update could prove to be a significant milestone for the company.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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